Johnson Caves

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for March 31, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

Republican leadership has a plan to end the record-breaking partial shutdown, Mike Johnson and John Thune announced. Congress will fund DHS through both the appropriations process and budget reconciliation. In other words … a process very close to the plan the Senate passed last week, which House leadership called “garbage.” Despite House Republicans’ dramatic about-face, the statement just blames Democrats.

• The shift came after Donald Trump announced he supported the Senate-passed plan, calling for Congress to send him a bill by June 1.
  

• On top of reopening the department, Republicans are looking to fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years.
  

Trump will give an ‘important update’ tonight on Iran. ABC’s Selina Wang reports that the president will reiterate his two- to three-week timeline for concluding the operation and “highlight” the military’s successes.

• Trump told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that he is considering pulling America out of NATO, an alliance he has repeatedly railed against as countries have refused to join the Iran conflict.
  

• He cannot legally do that without the Senate’s approval.

THE COURTS

The Supreme Court appears unlikely to green-light Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship, NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports, with nearly every justice expressing skepticism at oral arguments this morning.

• The government’s arguments deriding “birth tourism” did little to move the justices. “Would you agree that has no impact on the legal analysis before us?” Chief Justice John Roberts asked.
  

• When Solicitor General D. John Sauer responded, “It’s a new world,” Roberts shot back: “Well, it’s a new world, but it’s the same Constitution.”
  

• Trump attended the session in person, becoming the first sitting president to do so. He walked out about five minutes into the opposing side’s arguments.

THE ADMINISTRATION

Trump’s business organization has begun marketing “Trump 250” merch, ostensibly allowing personal profit off of the nation’s upcoming anniversary. The swag doesn’t come cheap, NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reports — a “Trump 250” blanket will run you $200; a crewneck sweatshirt $72. It’s the latest example of Trump breaking down traditional expectations of a firewall between the presidential office and one’s personal financial ambitions.

The CDC has paused diagnostic testing for rabies and pox viruses like smallpox and mpox. The organization helps local public-health labs with testing for dozens of pathogens, but widespread layoffs and resignations have left a limited number of qualified scientists who can offer assistance. The New York Times reports that the rabies team will have just one person capable of advising local officials by July, and the pox team will have none.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.